Bruce Power and the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario have agreed to build a strategy to ensure the Bruce C New Nuclear Project is supported by a highly qualified skilled trades workforce.

Bruce Power and the Building Trades Council have a long history of working together to deliver major nuclear refurbishment and construction projects safely and successfully, while supporting apprenticeships, workforce development, and long-term careers in the skilled trades.

The Bruce C Skilled Trades Workforce Readiness Planning Strategy aims to establish a long-term partnership that provides the apprenticeships, training, and labour planning to support safe and successful project delivery, and long-term economic growth.

The Bruce C Project would represent one of the largest construction undertakings in Canadian history. Workforce requirements would overlap with major infrastructure, energy, and industrial projects across the province, placing pressure on training pipelines, apprenticeship systems, and regional labour markets. 

“The Bruce C Project is a generational opportunity for Ontario to power its future and drive the economy,” said Pat Dalzell, Bruce Power Vice-President, Corporate Affairs and Market Development. “This strategy will help to make sure that we’re able to employ the right people with the right qualifications, at the right time, while supporting apprenticeships, training capacity, and good-paying jobs that power local communities and the provincial economy.”

The strategy includes three core elements:

• Joint governance through a steering committee co-chaired by Bruce Power and the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario, supported by project-level subcommittees that bring together contractors, training delivery partners, Indigenous partners, municipalities, and provincial ministries;
• A skilled trades demand/supply forecasting tool to provide shared visibility into workforce needs by trade, anticipate pressures early, and support timely decisions;
• A skilled trades availability mitigation plan that strengthens training capacity, addresses labour gaps, and supports worker mobility and community engagement.

With major infrastructure, energy, and industrial projects advancing across the province, partners will use the shared forecasting approach to reduce labour-market volatility, improve project certainty, and help ensure that more workers can build long-term careers in the skilled trades, both close to home and across Ontario.

“A project the size of Bruce C would provide good jobs for construction tradespeople, requiring a great deal of planning and collaboration,” said Marc Arsenault, Business Manager and Secretary-Treasurer, Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario. “We’re building for the future and making sure that Ontario has the skilled people needed to deliver complex projects safely, on time, and with lasting economic benefits.”

Over the next 12 months, the partners will finalize governance, develop the forecasting dashboard, and propose mitigation measures, including apprenticeship and training expansion, workforce housing and mobility supports, and continuous monitoring with rapid-response triggers to address emerging shortages.

• Projects
• Human Resources
• General Industry